Auditors produce ‘mind-blowing’ allegations of corruption
against Shaik’s old comrade

Under A Cloud

Deputy President Jacob Zuma at the Nedlac meeting in Sandton
yesterday. His name peppers Shaik’s charge sheetPicture: Sydney Seshibedi

A top-secret report will decide the fate of Deputy President
Jacob Zuma when it is submitted as evidence in the corruption trial of
businessman Schabir Shaik in the Durban High Court next week.

The 250-page forensic report, described as “mind-blowing” by
those close to the investigation, was drawn up under tight security by the
international auditors KPMG.

It provides forensic details of payments that allegedly prove an
extensive financial relationship between Zuma and Shaik, his financial adviser.

Charges against Shaik include:

That he was corrupt because he paid Zuma more than
R1,2-million that was “not legally due”;

A second count of corruption concerning the facilitation of a
R500 000-a-year bribe for Zuma;

That he fraudulently wrote off more than R1.2-million paid to
Zuma by Nkobi Holdings and its subsidiaries without the permission of
shareholders or creditors; and

That he laundered money when he arranged transactions paying
for the building of Zuma’s residence in Nkandla and then “disguised” them.

The KPMG document is said to provide evidence that 238 payments
to the tune of R1 269 836,41 that Zuma received from Shaik amounted to bribes.

The state alleges that Shaik’s payments to Zuma were bribes
from the French arms company Thomson Holdings/Thales, now known as Thint
Holdings.

“The report is top-secret and mind-blowing. We have utilised
the best security under the sun to protect it,” said an official close to the
investigation.

It is not yet known whether Zuma will be called as a witness but
his legal team, Russel MacDonald, Julie Mohamed, Mohamed Patel and Neil Tipton,
confirmed they would be in court throughout the trial.

Yesterday MacDonald said he was not aware of any report that
would “further implicate the deputy president”.

“This is not Zuma’s trial, it is Shaik’s,” he said.

Zuma’s name appears on almost every page of Shaik’s 45-page
charge sheet. The paper trail of evidence supporting the charges consists of
thousands of pages of documents and annexures.

The forensic report is expected to blow the lid on the
activities of 10 other politicians and officials who were allegedly bankrolled
by Shaik in return for business favours.

KPMG refused to comment.

Shaik’s trial, the biggest since 1994, will begin next Monday
in the Durban High Court amid tight security and will be presided over by Judge
Hillary Squires.

The 80-year-old judge was brought out of retirement to hear the
case, which has been set down for two months but may take much longer.

More than 100 witnesses from 10 countries have been summonsed to
the court for the trial. The names of some key witnesses have been left off the
list to protect their identities.

It is expected that two women who were closely linked to Shaik
will be giving evidence against him.

The names of three politicians, five forensic computer experts,
eight auditors and 17 Scorpions investigators also appear on the list.

Gavin Woods, an IFP MP and former chairman of Parliament’s
Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which investigated the arms deal, will
also be called as a witness.

Shaik’s lawyer, Reeves Parsee, refused to comment on the KPMG
report. He said: “We are not making any comments to the press about the trial.
These are the instructions from my client.”

The Scorpions have confirmed that they are still to decide
whether former President Nelson Mandela, who “explicitly warned” Shaik in
1994 to stop “misrepresenting the ANC”, should be called as a witness.

Officials from the Nelson Mandela Foundation including Ismail
Ayob, Mandela’s former lawyer, who wrote the warning letter, are on the
witness list. Mandela is said to have given Zuma a R500 000 “loan”. It is
not yet known why Mandela lent Zuma the money.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Director Bala Naidoo said
security around the court on Durban’s Esplanade would be tight.

Scorpions spokesman Sipho Ngwema said: “We are taking no
risks. We are making sure that our team will be working in a very secure and
conducive environment for them to conduct this case.”